Pope says forgiveness key to reconciling divided Korea

Addressing young people from Korea and other Asian countries on their concerns about the future, Pope Francis said the best hope for reunification of the divided Korean peninsula lay in brotherly love and a spirit of forgiveness.

“You are brothers who speak the same language,” the Pope said August 15. “When you speak the same language in a family, there is also a human hope.”

The Pope’s remarks came in response to a question from a young Korean woman, Marina Park, attending an Asian Youth Day gathering in Solmoe, about 60 miles south of Seoul. Park asked the Pope how young South Korean Catholics should view communist North Korea after six decades of “reciprocal hatred” between the two countries.

“Are there two Koreas?” Pope Francis asked in response. “No, there is one, but it is divided, the family is divided.”

To promote reunification, the Pope said he had one piece of advice to offer and one reason for hope.

“My advice is to pray, pray for our brothers in the North,” he said, “that there might not be victors and defeated, only one family.”

He then led the audience of some 6,000 people in silent prayer for Korean reunification.

To illustrate his reason for hope, Pope Francis cited the Old Testament story of Joseph, who forgave and fed his brothers even though they had sold him into slavery.

“When Joseph’s brothers went into Egypt to buy food because they were hungry, they found a brother,” he said. “Joseph noticed that they spoke the same language.”

The Pope also cited the Gospel parable of the prodigal son, a familiar reference in his preaching. A group of young performers had enacted the parable onstage a few minutes earlier.

The prodigal son’s father embraced his repentant son immediately, “he didn’t let him speak, he didn’t even let him ask for pardon,” the Pope said. “He celebrated.”

“We can do very ugly things, but please don’t despair,” he said. “There is always the Father who waits for us.”

Pope Francis’ answer was not part of the original program for the afternoon event, which called for him to read a prepared text in English, only the third time as Pope that he has used the language before a live audience.

But with his usual tendency to improvise, the pope departed from his text and shifted into Italian to reply to the young people.

He also answered the question of a young Cambodian woman, Leap Lakaraksmey, who said she was trying to choose between entering religious life and continuing her university studies in order to help the poor in her native village.

“When the Lord calls, he always calls us to do good for others,” the Pope said. “But you shouldn’t choose. The Lord chooses. You have to ask: ‘Lord, what should I do?'”

The Pope also assured the young woman, who lamented the lack of canonized saints from her country, that he would ask the Congregation for Saints’ Causes to look into the possibility of recognizing the martyrdom of Catholics killed in Cambodia in the 1970s by the communist regime under Pol Pot.

Pope Francis notably did not answer the other person who had been allowed to question him publicly at the event: a young man from Hong Kong, Giovanni Pang, who asked how to help Catholics in China, where he said “control and oppression” were increasing as the church on the mainland grew.

China requires Catholics to register with a government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, which has ordained bishops without approval of the pope, and Chinese authorities have frequently arrested members of the so-called underground or clandestine Catholic communities there. According to unconfirmed reports in Korean media, some Chinese Catholics planning to attend events with Pope Francis had been prevented from traveling to South Korea.

After the event, Pang told reporters that the pope had assured him he would be praying for China.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Pope Francis had chosen to avoid “political” topics such as China at an event whose character was supposed to be “pastoral.”

The Pope appeared at the Solmoe event following a lunch with Asian Youth Day participants from various countries and a visit to the reconstructed birthplace of St Andrew Kim, the first native-born Korean priest, who was martyred in 1846 at the age of 25.

On his way into the tent set up for his meeting with young people, the Pope was greeted with cheers and outstretched hands, many holding tablets and cell phone cameras. Before stepping up to the stage, he stopped and allowed one member of the audience to attach a yellow-ribbon pin to his cassock.

The pin has been adopted by family members of those killed in the April sinking of the Sewol ferry, some of whom the pope met earlier in the day, who are pressing the South Korean government to appoint an independent investigation of the disaster.

I am a devoted Universe reader. Can’t you see why Islamiste are
so far winning?, The faith level is so low, that, for Islamists, it is a
walkover. Our UK nation has been and is killing our future generation, so the UK Govt has to
import others, to pay for pensions.

Those people haters who do not have any conversation with God,
increase their numbers, by many tactics including wife imports, child
marriages, etc.etc.

The UK
Govt, is Islamaphobic‘,’fear of Islam’ in it’s faliure to tackle this problem.
Some major cities, are already Islamic, and ‘Mother Country’ exclusive. They hate
and impose, non freedom dogmas, and our Govt. Has not got the balls to other
than whisper dissent.

Daniel

The proclaimation of the Catholic faith in a non-Vatican Ii way is the only way to save Korea!

Guest GBOP LHUA

‘“When the Lord calls, he always calls us to do good for others,” the Pope said. “But you shouldn’t choose. The Lord chooses. You have to ask: ‘Lord, what should I do?’”’

One often wonders does the Holy Father ever take time to listen to himself, let alone consider what he has said, or even contemplate on consequences of his actions ..

God Bless Our Pope! Lord, help us all!

St Michael defend us in the day of battle!

Papa Pacelli – Beato Subito/ Santo Subito!

‘Are there two Catholic Churches?’ one might ask Pope Francis in response. ‘No, there is one, but it is divided, the family is divided’ .. and it is still the division he most keenly advocates, between the Modernist mindset seeking to divorce Christ from Sacred Tradition and the Catholic seeking to hold fast the link between Living Faith and the Church. Can Modernism be reconciled to Catholicism, is there a living compromise in the Faith for indifference to it, shall the Catholic Faith once more emerge triumphant from the grave to which Modernists have consigned it .. or shall that grave prevail? And there we must choose, as God has chosen, or perish with our well-intended choice of interment!

trawlerman

A wise response would be to know Islam, read and understand the Koran and the Hadith. Know where Islam is ‘coming from’. Only from a position of knowing and understanding ‘the other’ can we begin the long-term process of education that will, in the end, defeat the ignorant and the lunatics.

Mr Michael Bede Davidson

The Qur’an is very helpful
when it describes Jesus – pictures of Him are sometimes defaced by Islamists- as
an angel from heaven born of the Virgin Mary. It describes Jesus as an
angel from heaven, a prophet and a disciple. Mohammed was born of human stock
and urge of the flesh. The comparison is stark. I may search in vain for the
wonderful exhortations, of this Holy Being in the Muslim book. Am I wasting my
time?

Mr Michael Bede Davidson

? Please elaborate

TieHard

Modernism won’t prevail its fake promises will be exposed but then the enemy will use other methods. It has been so since the beginning and will be so in the future. We could fall unsuspecting into the Enemy’s trap…. By encouraging division. Remember he is the expert at sowing division and rebellion…. a liar and coward he is only guessing at what the Father will do
Our Lord is so much stronger and wiser. He is defending us . Guiding the Church No one knows his plans but his Will is done.

trawlerman

Of course you are not wasting your time. Issa, the prophet [Jesus] does indeed have a special place in Islam. But the Jesus of Islam is not the Jesus we recognise. Islam denies Jesus’s ‘sonship’ , his divinity and it denies his death on the cross. We [and the Jews] may be ‘people of the book’, but we are imperfect believers. According to some interpretations… We are exhorted to convert, pay a special tax …or die.

Christopher

There are many people who blog on this site who can’t get over the changes the Church made with Vatican II. But historically the Church has always tinkered with the mass. The Mass from the Last supper to Constantine were not in Churches with the priest facing an altar, but homes or house churches. It consisted of a Word service and the Eucharistic prayer. Saint Hippolytus, a 3rd century priest and theologian, composed a beautiful Eucharistic prayer around 215 AD that was add to the mass. After the Roman Emperor Constantine saw the sign of the cross and won a great victory at the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 he built basilicas modeled on Roman public halls for christians to use and the home table became an imposing stone altar. The grandeur of the basilica called for formality in music and ceremony emphasizing the wonder and glory of worship but downplaying its intimacy and warmth. The Council of Trent, called for by Pope Paul III, changed in the mass to came as a response to the Protestant Reformation. In 1570,Pope Pius V produced the Roman Missal as the standard book for the mass and everything including the readings were read in Latin. After 4 centuries in 1909 an international conference on the liturgy in Belgium stressed the need for active participation of the laity in the mass. And it was this movement that swelled as the Church worldwide began to reflect on its worship. Accordingly Vatican II Mass changes was a response to a expanding and changing world. Its Councils are as legitimate as the Council of Trent. (See Acts 15:13-29) Church Councils are considered not as mere recommendations but rather as divinely authoritative “decisions of the Holy Spirit and us” (Acts 15:28).
Now with this context If I said Korea could only be saved by a non Council of Trent Catholic faith that was like the early Church saying masses in their homes emphasizing intimacy and warmth rather than a Church service in a building with pews and a stone altar how would you rank my intelligence?

TieHard

Did anyone catch the snide comment on the BBC’s coverage of the Pope in Korea? Amazed at over a million People turning out to see him this does not conform with their mind set…. they had to say but in Korea the Church is not tainted by scandal !
They cannot resist from attacking.

“There are many people who blog on this site who can’t get over the changes the Church made with Vatican II.”

I think you mean “since Vatican II”. Versus populum was not mandated by the Council.

“The Mass from the Last supper to Constantine were not in Churches with the priest facing an altar, but homes or house churches.”
I think you need to read more broadly. The early Christians followed the custom of the Jews who faced east and then the niche for the Torah. See Ratzinger, “The Spirit of the Liturgy”, or Lang, “Turning Towards the Lord”. Don’t fall into the heresy of antiquarianism, Christopher.

Christopher

Friend,thanks for putting words in my mouth and commenting.However, I can speak for myself and can seek expanded reading if needed. This is a blog too long for details. The fact remains the early Christians went from homes to buildings. The mass format accordingly has always changed. There is no heresy or conspiracy going on in our Church. What has not changed is the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. Both are important and both are needed for a valid mass then and now. Christ Himself is present making any alledged “wrong”right. Christ did not promise a Church without scandal. If fact, Judas actions were the beginning of Our Church’s scandal. But Christ did promise a Church free from theological error noting the gates of hell will not prevail against her. So I suggest you forgive your Church if you have a problem with the new mass and move on. It’s been 50 years!

Christopher

The early Christians “faced east and then the niche”. The early Christians also worshiped on Saturday. But that was changed to Sunday, by early Church authorities, without any outcry against keeping the old way! Change is a part of life.

fredx2

The early Christians did it in their homes until the group got large enough to need a larger, more formal meeting place. So doing things in your home is only good when you have a very small number of Christians. They also messed things up because some were not formally trained, and some of those small church people led other people astray because they did not know what they are doing. The church then formalized education of priests, etc to make sure the faith stayed on the right track. This worship of a supposed early church that never existed is mind boggling. The early church was constantly riven with conflict. Look at the Epistles and all the constant correction that Paul and the other Apostles had to give. No, the early church was just feeling its way in the darkness and is not the model for all time.

fredx2

The problem, as Pope Benedict said, is that Vatican II has not been implemented yet. It called for preservation of the use of Latin and Chant. The Novus Ordo can be a fine mass if done right, by priests that really care about the Eucharist. The problem is that all too often, it has been abused.

James M

“The mass format accordingly has always changed.”

The text, & its ritual enactment, have not changed in a way that led to its becoming less doctrinally precise. Until now. That is one of the significant – and gravely scandalous – differences between the changes that took place in the 4 to 8th, 13th & 15th centuries OTOH; and that which took place in 1969. The work of the Council of Trent, and that of St Pius V, was not a dilution of the text of the Mass in a Protestant direction – to find that, one must go to Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. And to the Pauline Mass of 1969.

It is easy to talk of change – but changes are of different kinds, which need to be distinguished; otherwise changes that are harmful to the Faith expressed in the Liturgy can be slipped in, even unintentionally, under cover of those that are not harmful; so that changes that may be innocent or needed may conceal changes that are (i) changes of substance and (ii) are not good at all.

It is not true that the text of the Mass has always changed; nor has its ritual enactment always changed. One of the functions of the Sacred Congregation of Rites was to prevent the Mass becoming the fluid & Protean thing it now is. So no wonder the S.C. R. no longer exists.

Christopher

It is true the texts of the mass has always changed. And just in the last 50 years it changed a few times. Remember they added “may The Lord accept this sacrifice at your hands..,” Then they added the sign of peace. Then they recently changed the creed add “holy church”. And the eary church didn’t have the printed word so when they did the texts and format changed. Look can you go to a Latin mass now? Yes! But they are not popular because you are just a spectator. Many parish tried to bring it back but because of attendance issues they stopped and now they are said in assigned places. Are there more abuses with the new mass? Yes but that problem is being addressed. So in my opinion it’s time to move on.

Christopher

See what I wrote above.

Guest GBOP LHUA

The Francis Effect, on the mass and many-eyed-monster of the media, may peel off and crumble to dust before us rather more swiftly – if he pulls a Bl Paul VI on his much vaunted synod on (restructuring) the meaning of Family (divorce, remarried communion, contraception, abortion, priestly celibacy, purity of person, etc, etc). Not saying he will, I doubt he has it in him, doing only what the Cardinals who elected him have of asked; but if he were so to do, well, Francis too may eventually and truly deserve to called venerable, blessed and the rest.

More importantly, one wonders what mischief our own local clergy and their oversight are at .. and that the Catholic Media does not scrutinise (at all) let alone report:

PS What makes me larff rather more is that the default language for the Church – on Youf Dayze even in Asia – is not Latin, but English! Ha! talk about pandering to the ways of the world (and vibrant economic hyper-captialistic colonialism). Frightened they might seem old-fashioned, I guess .. so ditch what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council required (den say nothin’ ’bout dit, jus’ splodge some neet lidle doodle intseded).

TieHard

Thanks for link to this site some good articles on it just read The Holy Mass as it was revealed to Catalina…excellent

Ana Milan

We shall emerge, of course. We have Christ’s guarantee remember?

Guest GBOP LHUA

To be honest I have not a clue who Catalina is, or how worthy the site is of credence – in terms of Orthodoxy in the Catholic Faith. I suspect I liked an Icon there and linked to it (though, grey hairs being what they are .. ho-hum .. I can’t now recall what the image – or my response – was). Perhaps it was not approved, or dangerous in some way; hence the deletion of the post – or maybe I said something offensive, scandalous, or personal (I have been known so to do, and thus it was properly censored – thank you, dear CH Guardian Angels if so).

:o]

GBOP LHUA

TieHard

Well there were some odd politics on the site anti Obhama stuff which I ignored but the article I read was said to have imprimatur of local bishop and was edifying

676aldhelmstown710

What else do you expect from the BBC ? The BBC has long ago lost its moral soul. As a member of the Church of England I will say that the Catholic Church is not alone in its problems in this area, recently the Bishop of Gloucester had to take early retirement and is the subject of police investigation as also is a predecessor of his. There is nothing that the gutter press like more than to run a story, real or imagined about anything bad. You seldom hear reports about Fr. So & So or the Rev Smith who has retired or died and was loved and admired for his generous care and compassion for his congregation for the simple reason it does not make good copy, the gutter press is only interested in salacious rubbish. Perhaps if we all prayed more for our clergy and ministers who pray for us it would be a good thing. Re Pope Francis’s current visit to South Korea, what would be the effect of Pope Francis instructing the pilot of his aircraft to land in North Korea and then on landing inform the North Korean Government that under the terms of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights he is making a pastoral visit to North Korea, either way he is in my thoughts and prayers.